JOSÉ LUIS ALEXANCO (Madrid, 1942-2021). "Sajra... Lot 70

JOSÉ LUIS ALEXANCO (Madrid, 1942-2021). "Sajra II", 2000. Mixed media on canvas. Signed and dated on the back. Measurements: 100 x 130 cm. In the pictorial series that Alexanco gathered under the epigraph "Sajra" his plastic and conceptual investigation of an organic abstraction can be appreciated in a significant way. The term "sajra", which refers to spiritual entities (demons or ambiguous beings) take the form of spectra with zigzagging contours that line up in rows, covering the entire pictorial surface. In this way, the apparent chaos of the irregular stroke is subsumed in an essential geometry marked by rhythm and repetition. Alexanco studied drawing and engraving with Manuel Castro Gil at the Casa de la Moneda in Madrid, and in 1960 he entered the School of Fine Arts. Between 1968 and 1974 he collaborated with other artists at the University's Calculus Center, where he worked on sculptural generation programs, in collaboration with the American company IBM. During this period he met the mathematician José Barbera, and together they developed the software MOUVNT, designed to generate automatic forms that would later materialize in anthropomorphic sculptures. In 1970, together with Luis de Pablo, he created the acoustic plastic show "Soledad Interrumpida", trained in Buenos Aires. In the following years he would continue to work with the same author on various projects, including the organization of the Pamplona Encounters of 1972. In 1978 he designed the prince edition of the Spanish Constitution for the Editora Nacional, and in 1998 he presented an important retrospective exhibition at the Centre d'Art Santa Mònica in Barcelona (later at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid). A referent of late Francoist painting and a technological innovator, his work is part of collections such as those of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, The Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, MNCARS, Madrid; MACBA, Barcelona or the Juan March Foundation.